Thank You Dr. Seuss October 21, 2009
Posted by brandy in I'm yoda. Everyone else is a grasshopper, and now you might know everything, i should be a P.S.A., it makes sense to me, it's always easier to say it than do it, life lesson, overwhelmed doesn't even begin..., school, self improvement, teaching, the J.O.B., the less i worry the happier i am, the title says it all, the world according to me, this tag is for you Arm!, what i found when i went looking, when I go all Dr. Seuss on you, you're skimming this one.trackback
I’m sitting here in my classroom- one that was so ugly when I first met it, I almost cried. It was a thousand shades of beige with ripped construction paper and borders that didn’t quite meet around bulletin boards. It had dirty walls, smeared windows and it smelled like my grandmother’s basement. It had torn posters haphazardly dangling from the last cold remnants of sticky tack, a small collection of tattered books housed in a dirty plastic bin and 10 lonely desks stood in the center of the room.
I look around now. I have brightly colored material stretched over each bulletin board, cheerful border lining each one. I have a dazzling collection of books- on Robin Hood and magic and planets and a boy named Fudge filling a wooden bookcase and labeled bins and sorted in magazine holders. I have 18 desks filled with pencils and crayola markers and papers lined with thoughts of people young enough to still be brave enough to write down their wildest ideas. I have an orchid blooming at a reading table, the Mona Lisa hangs from the wall looking down and I have three dozen gorgeously fat roses blooming on my desk. It is a room that vibrates with potential and possibility and excitement when you enter. It is absolutely everything I ever wanted my classroom to be.
The funny thing is, I’ve been missing it. September curb stomped me, wore me down until I was nothing but a shell that rose each morning at 6:20 am and came home each night at 6:30 pm. I’ve been crabby and tired and when I looked around my room instead of seeing the colors and flowers and solved math problems of my genius class stapled to the bulletin board, I saw unfinished marking, the need for more books, a to-do list that multiplied every second I took my eyes away. I saw everything it wasn’t instead of what it was.
I have a poster hanging in my room. It’s a Dr. Seuss quote- one of my favourites, it says
You have brains in your head
you have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
Any direction you choose!
I’m so quick to tell me students they can do anything, be anyone, accomplish anything- that I’ve been forgetting that I can do the same too. I can steer myself any direction I choose- even steer myself away from a career responsible, (but soul depleting) schedule that leaves me aching for more and settling for less. And sometimes accomplishing less- spending less time at the school, quitting before the sun has left the sky, refusing to battle the photocopier one more time, is doing more. Sometimes crossing off fewer things on your to-do list (or just chucking the to-do list altogether) provides a kind of sanity you can’t find anywhere else.
Thank you Dr. Seuss.
(Because I am crazy, I’m also posting here today. It’s my first time writing fiction. Be kind internet, be kind).
look who’s speedy and got over here first today?!
your classroom sounds remarkable. these kids are so damn lucky. fk the to-do lists. you’re doing awesome.
Great, great quote! And your fiction piece? PLEASE KEEP WRITING FICTION.
You’re the only woman I know who actively references curb stomping.
Thank you.
Aw miss, this is so good to read! Not running yourself into the ground with paperwork so you have the energy to teach & inspire your students? That’s an amazing policy.
I love the quote! And also, I commented over there, but the fiction piece is outstanding. Seriously. I’m so wary of reading fiction pieces that people put up because I pick things to hell before I can stop myself and it takes all the fun out of it, but gaaaah. More, please.
great quote
When you write about your class, it makes me seriously consider going back to school to become a teacher. And I don’t really like kids!
It’s a good thing to remember that you can do whatever you want to do. Even if you’re exhausted every day.
Ah, Dr. Suess. He’s probably the reason I love reading and writing as much as I do. My favorite book when I was little was 1 Fish 2 Fish (Red Fish Blue Fish).
I’m a former teacher, and I always loved fixing up my room. Your classroom sounds fabulous, and those kiddos are lucky to have you!
I recently wrote something about fortune cookies–the last of which still glares at me, taped to the window sill above my kitchen sink. “Great souls have wills, feeble ones have only wishes. As a kindred teacher I compliment you first on your love of quotes. (smile) Second–Mona Lisa and flowers. And third–on the ability to take the absolutely concrete and create what is possible.
You’ve done a lot for your students, I can say. It’s such a brilliant quote too, I need this kind of pick-me-up these days.
Oh Brandy, thank you so much for posting this on a day when I feel like my classroom is filthy and has spiky carpet, all my displays are falling of the walls, corrections and assessments are never ending and I am trying to knuckle down and write end of year reports (I mysteriously find myself checking google reader instead…) THANK YOU! And ‘Oh, The Places You’ll Go’- only my favourite book in the world!!!
What a great post and a great quote!! Your classroom sounds remarkable! Those students are very lucky to have you as a teacher!
Sometimes, all it takes is one little quote to put things back into perspective. A lot of teachers – and just workers in general – have a hard time leaving work and getting back to other responsibilities, leaving them drained as a result. I’m included in this batch, but it truly is so important to realize that there is always a tomorrow in which things can be accomplished. It’s all about balance
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Dr. Seuss always how to hit the nail on the head… he just gets it…
Simple wisdom is priceless. Thanks for the reminder.